Report -Loddington Culvert, Leicestershire, January 2017

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28DL Full Member

HISTORY ("borrowed" from previous reports - thanks guys)
The GNR & LNWR joint railway line ran from Nottingham (or Newark), via Melton Mowbray, and on to Market Harborough & Northampton, built around 1879. Passenger services were only around six per day in each direction, although it was more heavily used by goods traffic. The line ran on a high embankment passing Loddington, requiring the existing tributary of the Eye Brook to be culverted under the line. Further on down the line, the main river, the Eye brook presented an engineering challenge where an impressive 14 arch viaduct was built across the valley, sadly demolished in 2001. The line closed to regular passenger services in 1953, and finally to goods trains in 1964.
THE VISIT
After seeing previous reports and excellent pics from other members, this had been on my to-do list for a while, so a short diversion off the A47 for my first culvert explore proved very worthwhile. It had been raining steadily for a few hours so I had the "When it rains keep out of the Drains" rule in the back of my mind. But this is no Megatron and I reckoned it would take a serious deluge to make this place dangerous so in I popped. On with the pics.....